The local soil is called "gumbo". It's a mixture of crappy clay, topsoil and sand. It's unstable, at best, and reacts to moisture.

When it's wet, the ground becomes mushy. If the ground stays wet for any length of time, the typical grasses die away and are replaced by plants that thrive in wet soil. Yards become quagmires and even mowing a lawn can be an effort in futility; when the mower leaves rut, it's best to wait for the yard to dry.

When dry, the ground shrinks and leaves cracks. The cracks can become so large, golfers lose their balls on the fairway.

The ground is full of cracks, and they're becoming larger daily. Homes built without proper foundations are settling and the repairs are expensive.

So, we're in the start of a drought, although we've been spared of the drought in other parts of Texas. Time will tell how this turns out, but it's just another part of nature.

Yup, the price for having such a great winter is typically a dry spring. We are starting a mild drought here too. Been having to water the plants regularly. Now along the coast in SW LA the drought is even worse. Not a good thing to seeing a freshwater marsh drying up.